Quick Overview
Dalaran rose as a center of arcane learning and a power within the northern human kingdoms. Arthas led the undead against the city while Archmage Antonidas and the defenders attempted to hold it. Dalaran's ruin marked the failure of magical learning alone to protect a civilization.
Full History
Dalaran rose as a center of arcane learning and a power within the northern human kingdoms. The Kirin Tor governed its magical affairs, gathering knowledge that few other cities could rival. In the Third War, that reputation made Dalaran a target when the Scourge sought the means to summon the Burning Legion into Azeroth.
Arthas led the undead against the city while Archmage Antonidas and the defenders attempted to hold it. The Scourge breached Dalaran, and Kel'Thuzad used the stolen Book of Medivh to summon Archimonde. The demon lord then destroyed the city through overwhelming magic. Its streets and towers, the work of generations of scholars and craftsmen, vanished in a moment of destruction that no ordinary siege could have achieved.
Dalaran's ruin marked the failure of magical learning alone to protect a civilization. Surviving mages later placed a protective shield over the shattered site, but that defense did not undo the loss of the old city. What had once been a seat of northern authority became one more consequence of the war that had consumed Lordaeron.
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